Maxime de la Rocheterie on Marie-Antoinette

"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

A Note on Reviews

Unless otherwise noted, any books I review on this blog I have either purchased or borrowed from the library, and I do not receive any compensation (monetary or in-kind) for the reviews.

Welcome, Guests!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Lady
Cecily Stonor (nee Chamberlain) and her late husband Sir Francis Stonor (+1564)
had two sons, Francis and John, and three daughters. They were recusants and
because they would not attend Sunday services in the Church of England, they
had to pay huge fines, selling land and estates as necessary. In 1577,
according to the Stonor Park website,
the family paid the modern equivalent of £50,000 in fines.

Cecily
Stonor was elderly when she was brought to trial in Oxford for her recusancy.
Her home, Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire was a refuge for Catholic
priests. The Jesuit Edmund Campion stayed at Stonor and his “Decem Rationes”
was printed there and then boldly distributed in the Church of St. Mary the
Virgin in Oxford, copies laid out carefully on the benches for Commencement on
27 June 1581. The authorities hunted Campion down on his way to Norfolk and
captured him at Lyford Grange in Berkshire on 15 July. Then authorities came to
Stonor Park on 4 August, finding the press, another Jesuit priest, William
Hartley, and the printer—they also arrested Cecily, her son John, and four
servants.

Questioned
about her recusancy, Lady Stonor proclaimed that she had remained true to her
Catholic faith even though the monarchs and government of England had changed religious
policy several times. She referred particularly to her devotion to the Catholic
Mass in her statement:

I was
born in such a time when holy mass was in great reverence, and brought up in
the same faith. In King Edward’s time this reverence was neglected and reproved
by such as governed. In Queen Mary’s time, it was restored with much applause;
and now in this time it pleaseth the state to question them, as now they do me,
who continue in this Catholic profession. The state would have these several
changes, which I have seen with mine eyes, good and laudable. Whether it can be
so, I refer to your Lordships’ consideration. I hold me still to that wherein I
was born and bred; and so by the grace of God I will live and die in it.

Cecily Stonor had experienced the Tudor dynasty,
seeing the religious changes made once Henry VIII had proclaimed himself
Supreme Head and Government of the
Ecclesiae Anglicanae, while she had remained unchanged in her profession of
religion. (Read more.)

Join the Party on FB!

The Joy of Networking

My Friends

Disclaimer

The fact that a link is provided here in no way constitutes an endorsement of everything on the other end of the link.

Comments Policy

Comments are moderated. If a comment is not published, it may be due to a technical error. At any rate, do not take offense; it is nothing personal. Slanderous comments will not be published. Anonymity may be tolerated, but politeness is required.

I would like to respond to every comment but my schedule renders it impossible to do so. Please know that I appreciate those who take the time to share their thoughts.